Waiting on Waukesha

Inside a Madison courtroom Monday morning, a Dane County judge gave Waukesha county until May 26 -- a 2 1/2 week extension -- to conclude its recount in the race for State Supreme Court between conservative incumbent David Prosser and liberal challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg.

Judge Richard Niess approved the extension, requested by Wisconsin Government Accountability Board attorneys, to finish counting the roughly 83,000 votes yet to be tabulated. The original deadline -- and still the deadline for the other 71 counties -- is set to expire later this evening.

Waukesha is the origin of the recount controversy. After it appeared Kloppenburg finished ahead of Prosser in the April 5 election by a slim 204 vote margin, Waukesha County Clerk Kath Nickolaus announced she omitted votes from Brookfield in her initial tally.

The Brookfield votes swung the election in Prosser's favor, giving him an unofficial victory by 7,316 votes. Kloppenburg then asked for a recount. While Nickolaus -- a Republican -- recused herself from the recount process, Kloppenburg’s attorneys alleged problems in Waukesha continue and those problems are responsible for slowing the pace of the recount. Waukesha County Corporation Counsel told the court this morning that more than 400 exhibits have been marked.

Accountability Board spokesman Reid Magney told NBC News that there will be a conference call this Friday to update Waukesha's progress towards completing its recount. So far, the board has certified the results from 60 of the 72 counties, and it expects to certify the other outstanding 11 counties -- excluding Waukesha -- by the end of the day.